Prayer: Pastor Keith Cross, First Christian Church, gave the invocation.

Minutes: Rawlings made a motion to approve the minutes from the September 3, 2013 meeting. Malone seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.

Malone made a motion to approve the minutes from the September 9, 2013 special meeting. Reavis seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.

Malone made a motion to approve the minutes from the September 10, 2013 special meeting. Rawlings seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.

Appropriations:

September (9): Wallace made a motion to approve Ordinance 9 in the amount of $772,965.70. Reavis seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.

Visitors:

Chenay Sloan, representing Rainbows United, Inc. presented information about their organization’s mission and services and discussed the details of a run/walk event they would like to host in Augusta next spring.

Old Business:

City’s Watering Restrictions and related issues: Shaw stated that water usage has picked up but there have been no issues treating the amount of water we need to treat. Shaw stated we have started to take more water from the City Lake to help keep us from going over our take or pay amount with El Dorado.

Walnut Levee Certification: Brian Glenn with AMEC provided an update on the Walnut Levee Certification progress and upcoming construction project. There was a consensus from the council to use the contractor used by Williams Petroleum.

Remaining Budget Authority: Council reviewed and discussed options for expenditure of the remaining budget authority as a result of a favorable proposal for the City Hall phone system. Reavis made a motion to move forward with the upgrade of the audio/visual equipment in the council chambers, painting of the city council chamber’s walls, and adding wireless internet access to city hall. Rawlings seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.

Transient Guest Tax: The City’s Bond Counsel, Kevin Cowan, addressed the governing body about the process for modifying the City’s charter ordinance related to the transient guest tax. Lowery made a motion directing Cowan to prepare a charter ordinance increasing the transient guest tax to 6% and to include a provision to allow the tax to be used for economic development purposes. Rawlings seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.

Work Session: S. Jones made a motion to schedule a work session for October 14, 2013 at 7 p.m. at City Hall to discuss the proposed Best Western Plus hotel development. Rawlings seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.

Informational Memorandum & Final Comments:

Williams: Williams wished Nancy Turnage, Executive Secretary, a happy birthday and thanked her for being at the meeting to run the audio/visual equipment.

Malone: Malone stated the back yard of 3116 Stephanie needs to be mowed. Shaw stated staff was aware and is working through the process of getting it taken care of.

Reavis: Reavis stated he was contacted by a citizen with the request for a feasibility study of installing a stop sign at Stonelake and David streets. Shaw stated staff will look in to that.

Reavis stated that any discussion about westward expansion has been held back because of the cost of extending utilities across the river. He asked if it would be feasible to add an extra line for utilities while installing the new Santa Fe Lake waterline. Shaw stated staff had already thought of that and have asked Larry Henry with MKEC to include that cost as an add alternate to the bid. Shaw stated we may be able to piecemeal that together, but that we would have to have a secondary funding source for that portion of the project.

S. Jones: Jones referenced item #4 on the Informational Memorandum and thanked staff for testing the different materials. She asked if the residents have been notified. Shaw stated they will be notified. Reavis stated he has had a citizen tell him he would be in favor of petitioning and paying for a hard surface road if it did not have to be curbed and guttered. S. Jones stated she had Larry Henry get her the cost information in the last 4-5 months and the citizens were not willing to pay the cost.

S. Jones stated the Bikers on the Bricks event was approved at the last council meeting, but that she found out that businesses were not notified until last Wednesday that the event was occurring. She stated she also was not aware that the beer garden opens at 9 a.m. She stated that does not give a good image of Augusta but that she was informed by staff that city code allows for them to start serving at 9 a.m. S. Jones stated the council needs to do more due diligence to gather all details of events prior to approval. Rawlings stated that with all of the events, including those through DAI and the Chamber, that the council needs to make sure they talk to all the businesses and individuals involved prior to coming to the council for approval. Malone stated he doesn’t know how you can have an organization tailored to the downtown and not be able to contact them.

Rawlings: Rawlings stated that after Wal-Mart was built it was noticed that vehicles travel at a high rate of speed on 6th Street / Thunder Road near the intersection at Lulu. He stated he spoke to Director of Public Safety Brewer and he indicated he would like the governing body to approach the County Commission about doing a study to see about posting speed signage in that area. Shaw stated that staff is looking into annexing the rest of Lulu to 6th Street. He stated we can currently write tickets, but since that area is outside of the city limits we have to handle those in district court. Rawlings stated the request was more about posting the signage rather than annexing the area on 6th Street / Thunder Road.

Crum: Crum inquired about the grass and conditions inside a home located at 2510 Mainsgate and stated the neighbors have complained that the bank that owns the property is not maintaining it. She stated they are also not actively trying to sell the property. E. Jones stated staff is aware of this property and has mowed the grass for the last few years. She stated she would check with the Inspection Department to see if anything can be done about the inside of the property, but that the City cannot force the bank to sell the property.

Executive Session: At 8:37 p.m. S. Jones made a motion to go into executive session for 30 minutes to discuss personnel matters of non-elected personnel, specifically related to an employment contract for the City Manager and the contract for the Interim City Manager and asked that City Attorney Cami Baker and Marla Flentje (by phone if necessary) join the Council in the executive session. The governing body will reconvene in the Council Chambers at 9:07 p.m. Lowery seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.

At 9:07 p.m. Lowery made a motion to exit executive session with no action being taken. Malone seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.

At 9:07 p.m. S. Jones made a motion to go into executive session for 20 minutes to discuss personnel matters of non-elected personnel, specifically related to an employment contract for the City Manager and the contract for the Interim City Manager and asked that City Attorney Cami Baker join the Council in the executive session. The governing body will reconvene in the Council Chambers at 9:27 p.m. Malone seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.

At 9:27 p.m. Malone made a motion to exit executive session with no action being taken. Lowery seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.

Adjourn: At 9:28 PM Malone made a motion to adjourn. Wallace seconded the motion. Motion carried without opposition.